Drake Wednesday, January 10 at 7pm

[vu84v2]

I am wondering if Parker Hazen might be one of those players in which things just suddenly click. There was a player like Parker Hazen a few years ago at Kansas (I apologize for my sometimes overly Kansas-focused comments)....Perry Ellis. Bright guy, good credentials out of high school, but could not figure things out and generate any production for most of his Freshman year. With about two games left in the regular season, everything clicked and he suddenly became very confident and productive. I agree with the comments that everyone needs to give him a little space.

[oklahomamick]

I wonder if we should have redshirted Hazen.  Valpo doesn't redshirt freshman very often.  Not compared to other mid majors

[VU2014]

I wonder if we should have redshirted Hazen.  Valpo doesn't redshirt freshman very often.  Not compared to other mid majors

Yeah I'm pretty surprised Valpo has never really taken advantage of red-shirting freshman certain seasons. Teams like like Belmont red-shirt almost half their roster.

Coach Lottich considered red-shirting Linssen and McMillan at the beginning of the season but opted for added depth. I'm thinking they probably think maybe someone might become a grad-transfer down the road and we'd lose them for their RS senior year. It's interesting that we never heard Parker's name come up for a potential red-shirt. Maybe that suggests he might have been practicing well but just clams up during real games? Either way I'm willing to stay patient with him for his freshman season.

Probably in hind sight they may have liked to Red-shirt Parker, Mileek or Linssen. Linssen has supplied good minutes this season but he's been MIA the last 2 games with Sorolla and Smits playing so well. I wish Linssen was quick enough to play the 4 but it seems Coach doesn't feel comfortable with that lineup yet. Linssen has a nice 15-ft jump shot that he's hardly used during the games when he's out there. If you ever watch Marty during shoot around he has some nice to touch on his jumpshot, as does Smits.

[ValpoHoops]

It's interesting that we never heard Parker's name come up for a potential red-shirt. Maybe that suggests he might have been practicing well but just clams up during real games?

Parker started the first 10 games of his career. If the staff thought that highly of him to start the season, a redshirt was nowhere near their minds.

[covufan]

It's interesting that we never heard Parker's name come up for a potential red-shirt. Maybe that suggests he might have been practicing well but just clams up during real games?

Parker started the first 10 games of his career. If the staff thought that highly of him to start the season, a redshirt was nowhere near their minds.

Agreed.  My guess is that his talent and his practice work ethic were high, but somehow never translated to the court during games.  At some point it will work for Parker.

[FWalum]

It's interesting that we never heard Parker's name come up for a potential red-shirt. Maybe that suggests he might have been practicing well but just clams up during real games?

Parker started the first 10 games of his career. If the staff thought that highly of him to start the season, a redshirt was nowhere near their minds.

I have kept quiet about this topic until recently and just wanted to say that I have seen Parker play probably more than most on this board, in both games and at practice. A good friend of mine has worked with Parker (he works with other players and professionals including Caleb Swanigan) in the past, so I feel that I have had a pretty good handle on his potential and I have to say that it did not surprise me that Parker was in the starting lineup at the beginning of the season.  My friend came to a recent home game and we discussed Parker's lack of production and he is very surprised and perplexed by what he has seen so far this year. I am not too concerned and expect that things will turn around for Parker because of his work ethic and support for his team and teammates. Doubt is one of the biggest performance blockers in the game of basketball, a tentative decision or reaction of a tenth or even one-hundredth of a second makes the difference between a great play or a turnover.  I think we have seen that dynamic play out with this team over the last 10 games and hopefully, we are now over the uncertainties caused by Tevonn's illness, Bakari's issues and Joe's departure.

[valpotx]

If body look mattered in college basketball, he has the look of a basketball star lol.  He has the D-1 basketball body already, and only needs to put on a bit of muscle. 

[bigmosmithfan1]

I'll be honest - I'm not crazy about redshirting freshmen unless they clearly aren't physically ready for the rigors of D-1 ball (or are coming off some sort of injury that doesn't rise to the level of a medical redshirt but would prevent them from being 100% for their first season).

The reasons:
- As we've seen with Keith Carter, the NCAA is no guarantee to grant an extra year if that player needs a medical redshirt somewhere down the line, so you could be costing a year of eligibility.
- With the proliferation of P5s using the new grad transfer rule to poach starters from midmajors, it makes no sense to voluntarily put yourself in that position where you are having to deal with an annual circus of your redshirt senior being courted by schools around the country. (I've heard that, quite smartly, many midmajor coaches have quietly ended the practice of setting up players to graduate in 3 years so they can take a lighter load of grad school classes their senior year, until the NCAA makes adjustments to the grad transfer rule to prevent it from being used against midmajors so heavily).
- With the number of injuries and other issues this program has had the past few years with keeping guys on the court, there's no way I'd be shortchanging my roster depth unless I absolutely had to.
- Lastly, one of Valpo's few advantages when recruiting against the P5/Big East/AAC is the opportunity to come into our program and contribute and play right away as a freshman (where they might spend a couple years on the bench before seeing meaningful minutes elsewhere). Redshirt more than the occasional frosh and that pitch point flies right out the window.

[M]

Your second point was on the point (as the kids say).

[VU2014]

- With the proliferation of P5s using the new grad transfer rule to poach starters from midmajors, it makes no sense to voluntarily put yourself in that position where you are having to deal with an annual circus of your redshirt senior being courted by schools around the country. (I've heard that, quite smartly, many midmajor coaches have quietly ended the practice of setting up players to graduate in 3 years so they can take a lighter load of grad school classes their senior year, until the NCAA makes adjustments to the grad transfer rule to prevent it from being used against midmajors so heavily).

Nailed it. I've also heard coaches aren't allowing their kids to take too many summer course anymore to set themselves up for 3 years graduations. I'm not sure if we have any kids on track for that but I believe Smits took a huge summer course load the summer after his medical red-shirt season. Not sure if he did it again this season, but he may be on track for a 3 year degrees. P5 poachings of mid-major players is a serious concern. Both Jubril and Alec earned their degrees in 3 years and that was a really big concern that Spring. Everyone was panicking that Alec would leave and there were big time programs recruiting him. Also with Jubril there was that rumor that he was leaving for Alabama. I don't remember how that all started again.

My theory on why Coach Lottich is allowing guys to join Fraternities now is that it may help players build a stronger connection with the University and if a player ever did find themselves in an opportunity to become a grad-transfer they may be more likely to stay because they won't want to leave all their close friends beyond just their brothers in the locker-room. All I know is that the Valparaiso Basketball program has developed a very tight knit family culture which is the greatest deterrent to wanting to transfer.

[vu72]

It's interesting that we never heard Parker's name come up for a potential red-shirt. Maybe that suggests he might have been practicing well but just clams up during real games?

Parker started the first 10 games of his career. If the staff thought that highly of him to start the season, a redshirt was nowhere near their minds.

I have kept quiet about this topic until recently and just wanted to say that I have seen Parker play probably more than most on this board, in both games and at practice. A good friend of mine has worked with Parker (he works with other players and professionals including Caleb Swanigan) in the past, so I feel that I have had a pretty good handle on his potential and I have to say that it did not surprise me that Parker was in the starting lineup at the beginning of the season.  My friend came to a recent home game and we discussed Parker's lack of production and he is very surprised and perplexed by what he has seen so far this year. I am not too concerned and expect that things will turn around for Parker because of his work ethic and support for his team and teammates. Doubt is one of the biggest performance blockers in the game of basketball, a tentative decision or reaction of a tenth or even one-hundredth of a second makes the difference between a great play or a turnover.  I think we have seen that dynamic play out with this team over the last 10 games and hopefully, we are now over the uncertainties caused by Tevonn's illness, Bakari's issues and Joe's departure.

The reality is that the coaching staff may have expected too much from Parker as a freshman with perhaps few other options.  Looking back at a few VERY productive players, their freshman year, shows that maturity and experience can make a "slow start" end on a high note.  Witness the freshman year of these three:  Jake Diebler:  played 4.3 minutes a game an averaged 1.1 ppg.  Urule Igbavboa:  played 7.4 minutes and averaged 2.9 ppg.  Even the great Dan Oppland only averaged 4.6 ppg and has 38 turnovers to 25 assists.  By their senior year Jake averaged 7.9 ppg, Urule 13.8 and Dan 20.1

[valpo64]

Allowing players to join fraternities can also add to student interest from the Greeks.  We sure know that more student interest would be welcomed.

[VULB#62]

Nice perspective, 72. The Bryces and Alecs come along once every other decade (at least @ mid majors like Valpo  ).